acatalepsy_logs | ( the sickness: phase two )

( the sickness: phase two )

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the sickness ends.

the temple.

The Temple, shortly after Astoria's burst of energy, is in a constant state of growth. Trees are bursting into existence from seeds in mere seconds, flowers are growing wherever magic lands . . . and the Temple is abruptly a-buzz with energy, magic crackling throughout the air. You may find a tree in your house, or flowers suddenly growing along the walls, or plants wiggling their way through the stone walls of the buildings of the Temple. All of a sudden, the place looks very overgrown.

The Forest of the Fey seems to be responding in kind, too. Sprites are exceptionally active, darting out of the Forest and into the Temple with increasingly regularity, playing basic little tricks on the members of the Circle they can find. Flower crowns are made at an alarming rate, and there might be a few fruit-food fights that break out with the sudden abundance of peaches and apples that appear on the grounds. Learn how to duck!

With the magic comes the sudden fluctuation of energy: canon powers flicker on and off, as do the powers granted by Astoria. You feel more like yourself, you suddenly have access to energies you did not have previously in the Temple However, it's a double-edged sword -- it is not constant, and it may be more trouble than its worth.

And, remember: the Sickness is not fading immediately. If you make it to Stage 3, then you're stuck with sensory deprivation for at least another week or two. Sorry, friends.

lake dona.

Lake Dona is a massive body of water, stretching outward for so far that it almost seems like an ocean until you see that the water is fresh. It is surrounded by long, leafy trees that dip into the water and has a variety of ancient ruins scattered around it -- weathered stones set into circles at seemingly even intervals, old buildings that seem to mirror the Temple in construct.

In addition to the ruins, there are a network of caverns tucked along the water’s edge, just underneath the surface on the western side of Lake Dona, that appear to go underground into murky darkness. The actual entrance to these caverns seem to be underwater, seemingly guarded by merfolk, but poking around may seem to be more trouble than its worth.

There is plenty of wildlife to be found within the lake itself, ranging from freshwater mermaids who would rather you stay the hell out of their backyard to a rather large and suspiciously friendly plesiosaurus-like creature (some would say that she prefers to be called Nessie) that seems intent on checking out who you are. The lake teems with odd-looking fish, most of which seem to be okay to eat, and plenty of plant life! But who knows what lurks in the depths below . . . that giant sea-monster looking thing has to be eating something.
PROMPT IDEAS: Here are some prompt ideas for this new area! However, don't feel limited to such ideas! Feel free to fish, to explore, to swim, to poke around . . . it's always possible Astoria may check in on your character, too, once she is feeling better! ;)

1.) The Great Pumpkin The overgrowth of plants have caused a massive growth spurt in a lot of the trees, including the fruit trees that sprinkle themselves throughout the Temple. However, the fruit themselves seems to be growing at a rather . . . alarming rate, resulting in a few pumpkin-looking squash growing to the size of small boulders in the fields. Hope you have a lot of spare time on your hands to make a hell of a lot of Temple-pie, because these squash aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

2.) Food Fight!: Those damn sprites are at it again, and are collecting fruit off the ground and throwing it at people. Fight back, organize, and conquer! Or not. It's probably better to just not.

3.) Part Of Your World: The mermaids within Lake Dona are a suspicious lot, and they don't take kindly to strangers stomping through their territory. However, they are receptive to music, so if you are so musically inclined, they will definitely be more inclined to be a little more playful than territorial. If you aren't? Have fun getting tossed into the lake head-first by a bunch of pissed off mermaids who want you to get the hell of their lawn. They don't take kindly to your type around here.

4.) Nessie: Within Lake Dona is a massive plesiosaurus-type creature which seems to be . . . oddly friendly? It seems to pop up at the most inconvenient of times. Are you sitting on the edge of the lake enjoying the water? Enjoy a massive ass dinosaur sticking its impressively long neck out of the lake to check you out and also scare the bejesus out of you. That being said, Nessie is an extraordinarily friendly being, and will even give you laps around the lake if you ask nicely!

5.) Caverns: The caverns within the lake are dark, deep, and menacing The merfolk inform you that you cannot go there -- no one can, but the merfolk sure seem to be keeping a careful eye out on it. Testing the boundaries indicates a weird magical field around the entrance of the cave, that works like a bit of a forcefield. Weird, right?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Konoha doesn't actually like dogs.

At least... the dogs she's familiar with, big, aggressive matagi hunting dogs, don't really like her. They bark, they lunge, teeth bared, viewing her as more animal than person, and they remind her too much of wolves, of the bite scar on her arm. But to hear a dog in this place was too curious a thing to not investigate, and the centaur changes course to see what it was.

The sound of hooves gives her presence away before she arrives on the scene, stepping around new cracks in the floor and root growth before she finds... a man. But where's the-

A bark gives that answer away, and Konoha looks up in surprise. In the tree???]

Um-

[She should probably say something proper, but. Since when did dogs climb trees??]

[Hank abandons even the pretense that he's about to climb the wall, hearing the voice, and then he turns around and actually takes a step backward, pressing his back against the wall, his eyes wide.]

Woah.

[Shit. Is that offensive? It just kind of came out. Is it okay to say woah to a horse.]

I mean, uh. I meant- hi. I uh. Saw your post. On the thing.

[He gestures to his watch.]

So that's uh- [So that's how I know there's even a centaur here, around, that's why I'm not freaking out harder right now- Does she need to know that? Get it together, Hank.

Hank gets it together. He makes a concentrated effort not to be an ass.] I didn't say hi. But, uh. Hey. Kid.

[It's a reaction that Konoha has... admittedly gotten kind of used to. It does bring a bit of a startle to her, just from his reaction, but!]

G- good morning!

[A greeting is a good place to start, right? He said he saw her "post", so, that meant he knew who she was, so... maybe she didn't need to explain the whole... four bay equine legs and hooves thing. Still, she bows from the waist, hands folded demurely in front of her equine chest. Good manners were important even if a dog was stuck in a tree and all sorts of weird things were happening.]

I'm Konoha! It's nice to meet you in person!

[Hank raises his eyebrows.]

Uh.

So is bowing a thing, uh... [Say it. It's the right word. It's stupid that it's the right word! So, so stupid. So, so weird. But it's the right one, so use it, dumbass..] ...centaurs do? Would it be weird if I did it back or is that just your thing?

[Hank grimaces. It is way too early to be standing outside in his boxers navigating cultural bullshit with a piece of living fiction. To be fair, there's probably never going to be a good time for that. But it would have been cool if he'd gotten time to get used to being awake before he had to even try it.]

Edited (skipped a word) 2018-09-21 11:45 (UTC)

[Straightening up from her bow, Konoha shakes her head, smiling a bit. She doesn't actually notice anything particularly strange about his clothes, but then again... she's used to working at a lumber mill in the mountains in all sorts of seasons, so anything a man wears more modest than a single loincloth is perfectly normal to her.]

Oh, in my village that's what we do, but- here!

[She sticks out her hand with just a small blip of distraction looking up at... the dog. Just checking it wasn't going to jump down and attack or something-]

I heard a lot of people like to shake hands. Is that better for you?

I mean, either way.

[Hank bites his cheek, looking from their hands to her and back again as he reaches out for a handshake.]

Uh, right. Hank Anderson. Human, cause that's something you've gotta specify around here. So, your village, is that all, uh. People like you?

[Why did he ask? Will thinking about an actual village full of centaurs make this more normal, or less? Well, hell, it's like asking someone what state they're from, right? It's just making conversation. It's fine.]

Nice to meet you, Hank Anderson.

[She has... a really strong grip, courtesy of a life doing farm work and logging, shaking his hand a moment before she lets go to scratch behind her ear a moment a bit self-consciously as she looks down at him. (When your human waist doesn't start until chest-height at most people, it's mostly looking down.)]

Oh, no- the people who raised me are humans. I have a few jinba under me at work, but it's mostly humans where I'm from. So- I know a lot about them! Don't worry.

[At least... she knows a lot about Japanese humans circa the early 1600's.]

[Hank's grip, on the other hand, will probably be weird. Feeling out how hard to grip by touch, since last week, is a no-go. Pressure he can feel, but it's trickier. So his handshake might be normal one moment, then limp, then firm again - if he can get it done without coming off like he's trying to challenge this kid for dominance, or whatever, he'll probably be doing okay.]

Work?

[He looks less weirded out, suddenly, when he says that, and starts looking bothered instead.]

How old are you?

Sure. I'm a foreman at the lumber yard. If you're hauling timber, I'm your girl. Not that... you'll probably need that done here.

[Yeah that... sure is a weird handshake, but. He looks older (by medieval standards), perhaps a few years younger than her aging parents, so maybe he was just weakening a bit? It's not her place to comment on that, though- it was impressive enough to live that long!

Life is tough, okay?]

Me?

[She seems surprised to be asked- did she look young? That was flattering, she supposed.]

I'm not positive, haha... but I'm definitely over twenty!

[AN OLD MAID... who lost her parents too young to know how old she'd been.]

Okay.

[He says the word slowly, changing his assessment of her as he does it, because it's clearly not the answer he's expecting. She looks way too young to work, but if she says it's fine, it's fine. Which is good, because Hank really doesn't need anything else to worry about right now.]

Lumber yard, huh? I don't know, maybe I will need it pretty soon. You got any experience taking trees down out of the middle of rooms?

Yeah, up on the mountainside. Not, um, any mountain here, of course. Back home.

[Oh- that's a good point! She cranes her head to the side to examine the tree in question appraisingly... before she nods.]

Sure, that's not so thick! I'd need to get a good crosscut saw, but...

[Maybe there's one around here? Or she could ask Nihuang to use her powers to summon one? ... Geez, she can't believe she's gotten so used to magic that she can think that thought and be okay with it.]

Your dog doesn't bite, does it... ?

[Connor said it was nice, but... SECOND OPINION JUST IN CASE]

Oh no, uh- [Hank looks up at Sumo, considers.] I mean I've never seen him fall out of a tree before, so no promises, but I'd be really surprised. Shit, you think we'd need some sort of... something, for him? I could try to climb up there but without being able to, you know-

[He wiggles his fingers, as if she'll see the gesture and just automatically know what he means. He's so used to this, by now, that he doesn't actually consider that everyone else might not be aware of every possible permutation of this little sickness.]

-feel anything, I might drop him. What do you usually do when you got to get something big out of a tree before you uh, lumber it?

[Hank has spent exactly zero minutes around lumberyards. That might be obvious.]

Is that... "Sumo"?

[It's super weird to name a dog after wrestling, but... she won't say that.]

Connor said he was a nice dog, but, a man in my village has matagi hunting dogs, and they hated horses... and jinba.

[She's a bit wary, looking up at the dog while completely oblivious to what those comments about his fingers could mean, lips pursing and hands on her hips/withers. One arm which sports a canine bite scar.]

If you really don't think he'd bite... I can try and climb it.

[Fun fact for the day: Jinba can climb trees?]

Uh. Oh. Okay?

[Hank tries to accept this fun fact into his life. He can’t quite do it. He resists the urge to ask if she’s sure, because a foreman at a lumber yard probably knows what they can and can’t do with trees, and resists the urge to ask what he’s supposed to do if she falls and breaks a leg, because there are some jokes you don’t make.]

He’s uh. He’s never ridden a horse before. But he used to get along with cows. It might uh, take him a while to actually come, are you sure you can stay up there that long?

[There it is, he ended up asking if she was sure anyway. But it does really kind of feel like he should make sure.]

Edited (Phone typing) 2018-09-21 16:30 (UTC)

[With his... "permission"?, Konoha walks over to the tree in question, looking up from a closer angle and examining just how thick it was, where the branches were, just how high and how close to the wall it was.]

Hmm... maybe I can just get him in a sack... ?

[She's not really used to the concept of... "pet as member of family", so oops.

This would definitely be more of a smash and grab sort of maneuver, so coaxing wasn't very likely.]

A- [Did she just say... Yeah. Yeah, she did.] Hoooo no. No, uh...

[Hank wanders up beside her, looking up at the tree at the same angle she is, but looking a little harder at Sumo than the tree itself.]

Sorry, kid, he's uh. It's just that he's old, you know? And big dogs like him, they can get all these joint issues, and- I'm not going to throw him in a sack.

[He sighs. Sumo's looking down at him with his big, dumb, trusting face, and- fuck.]

Look, are you sure you'd have to throw him something? There's not another way, like... I don't know, some kind of harness, like they have for babies?

[A harness. To strap onto a horse. Who is going to climb a tree.

Hank's trying not to think too hard about that. He might be okay if he can just focus on keeping Sumo out of a freaking sack.]

[He'd old? Konoha doesn't think she's ever seen an old dog before, and that's a bit confusing but it doesn't look very aggressive up there... certainly not as scary as the wolves that had bitten her, but...]

Hmm...

[She reaches around with a twist of waist to go digging in the tool belt worn behind her work harness, coming up with a series of leather straps that she usually uses for timber hauling.]

I could maybe tie him on?

[This was a puzzle, and Konoha doesn't consider herself the smartest jinba, but when it comes to this sort of thing she's got the experience, so she hums a bit, considering.]

Or... lower him? Can you catch him?

Maybe, if you guys got a hospital here no one told me about. He's about as heavy as me, have I uh, mentioned that?

[He thinks about the straps for a second, trying to imagine how they'd work.]

Tying him on might work, if you're gonna be careful. A harness around uh, his chest and his hips, maybe, that could do it. But I guess that depends on what you know about dog harnesses.

[He sighs.]

I might be able to catch him, if you're slow about it. Like, don't just catapult him at me. Are you, uh- Is that something you're going to be able to do?

[He studies her, still looking really, really doubtful about the whole tree climbing thing, let alone tree climbing while holding dog. No one could blame him.]

Nope! But that's okay, I'm used to hauling timber, a dog or a human is nothing.

[Hmmm, this was complicated... but! She likes to be helpful, and the tree may be taller than the ceiling of his room, but Konoha herself was topping out near seven feet tall just standing, so she's pretty sure she can handle it- it's much fewer branches up for her to go than a human... and they look sturdy enough...]

Let me just test these real quick.

[Backing up a few steps... she suddenly rears up on her hing legs, balancing a moment before she reaches up to grab on to the lower hanging branches, tugging a bit on them with a bulge of muscles along her arms to make sure they wouldn't crack under her weight. They creak, but... hmm, seems like they'll hold a bit.]

Okay- so...

[She starts trussing some of the leather harnesses together, tying them together with tight knots while sizing up the dog.]

I'll climb up there, harness the dog, and... lower him down if the branches hold, or just hold him myself if I have to jump down. Alright?

[She looks pretty cheerful, so surely she must be confident?]

Yeah.

[If Hank sounds shaken, that's because he is. When she starts looking like she's going to - what, climb? - do something to the tree he backs up, then backs up some more, looking up toward where Sumo's stretching his neck out curiously toward her. It looks like a pretty good height to Hank. Not so much, apparently, to her.]

Are all, uh. What did you call it? Jinba? Are all of you so, uh... big?

[That... actually makes her laugh a bit.]

I'm actually kind of small for a jinba! You should see some of the stallions I work with!

[Gonta was a good two heads taller than her, geez...]

They might be taller but they're also heavier, so, they probably can't climb as well, though.

[Okay... branch test done and now makeshift harness complete, she eyes up the tree again, where she thinks she'd lower the dog if she has the time... and then trots over to a spot near the trunk, gesturing for Hank to come over.]

You stand here, okay?

Sure thing.

[Hank goes over obediently to stand in the spot, glancing up at Sumo. He seems calm for the moment, chilling out between the branches, his hig head settled on crossed paws. Hank has a feeling that won’t last. If Sumo gets too agitated Hank will yell up to him and, who knows, that might help. Dog checked on Hank looks back toward gigantic horsegirl, watching her curiously.]

If you drop him on me and break my neck, make sure someone puts pants on me before anyone finds the body. Okay?

[Okay, he's in place, she's in place... but Konoha can't help but pause before she starts, blinking a bit in surprise.]

Aren't you wearing pants already?

[So she might not know what boxers are.]

Uh.

[Wow.]

What a, uh. What a question.

[He looks down at himself, double checking whether he's not actually wearing pants and didn't notice - more likely than you'd think, when you can't feel anything - and then looks up at her. The horse. Right.]

Oh, that's uh- you wouldn't know what underwear is, huh?

[A half-laugh, half uncontrollable giggle bursts out of him at that. It surprises him, but maybe the weird factor is just too much, and the extra weird that he can't handle has to spill out somewhere. ]

Are you sure this is all real, kid? Cause it's getting harder and harder to tell myself it's not all a coma dream. Is this something you'd talk about, like, conscious and sober? Is this the kind of conversations horse people normally have?

[What's so funny???]

Of course I do! Or- you know, men wear loincloths. Where I'm from.

[In the summer months a lot of the workers at the yard stripped down to them, or at least pulled up their kimono and tucked them in at the waistband, so it's not like she hasn't seen a lot of human underwear, okay?

But those look like... there's like a color on them and the fabric is so nice? ... Compared to loincloths.]

We don't talk about underwear all the time, geez-

[Focus up, Konoha!! She shakes her head and stomps a foot with a full body wriggle, slapping her cheeks a bit.]

Okay, I'm gonna start- get ready!

I.

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